Billions in much-needed American military aid are now headed for Ukraine. Without such “concentrated, large-scale, and timely assistance from the West,” Zoltan Barany concluded on the second anniversary of the war, Ukraine cannot win. Russia holds overwhelming strategic advantages in manpower and ammunition. Could the aid package reverse the course of this war of attrition and help Ukraine regain its momentum? The following Journal of Democracy essays demonstrate what it will take, and why this struggle is a “contest between democracy and dictatorship.”
Why Ukraine Is Starting to Lose
Putin doesn’t care how many of his troops die. He is looking to win a war of attrition. On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine needs the West’s help — and it needs it now.
Zoltan BaranyWhy Ukrainians Are Rallying Around Democracy
The share of Ukrainians who endorse democracy as the best form of government has risen fast in short order, standing now at more than three-quarters. New data reveal a surprising explanation behind this remarkable shift.
Olga OnuchUkraine Can’t Hold Elections During the War. Does It Matter?
Russia’s brutal ongoing invasion is preventing Ukrainians from holding a presidential election and the campaigning that comes with it. What does that mean for Ukraine’s democracy?
Anna RomandashHow Zelensky Has Changed Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky is far more than a brave wartime leader. He began changing the tenor and direction of Ukrainian politics long before the people made him their president.
Jessica PisanoThe Rebirth of the Liberal World Order?
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has done something for the world’s democrats they could seemingly not do for themselves — given them renewed unity, purpose, and resolve.
Lucan A. WayHow Putin’s War in Ukraine Has Ruined Russia
The first two months of the war alone turned the Russian clock back decades, undoing thirty years of post-Soviet economic gains and reducing the country to an international pariah state.
Kathryn StonerUkraine and Russia: War and Political Regimes
Will Russia’s war tip the Kremlin even further toward tyranny while fortifying Ukraine’s democracy? That will depend on Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as much as on the course of the war itself.
Timothy J. ColtonHow Ukraine Divides Postcommunist Europe
In East-Central Europe, neither physical proximity nor memories of Soviet domination have united countries in their response to the war in Ukraine. What matters most is who stands to benefit.
Anna Grzymała-Busse
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